This application is for a five year renewal, years 41-45, of an institutional training grant in cardiovascular disease epidemiology. The aims of the training program are to develop creative and independent investigators who will contribute to our knowledge of cardiovascular disease, its pathogenesis, complications and prevention. Both the training program and trainees will evolve in response to the changing needs of benefits from close ties with other population and clinically-oriented departments at The Johns Hopkins cardiovascular epidemiology and science. The program is based in the Department of Epidemiology but Medical Institutions as well as several affiliated community-based research units. The 53 trainees in the past 10 years have been extremely successful; to date their CVs show a total of 907 total publications with nearly all doing research (30 in an academic setting and 11 are in government or industry) with 10 still training and only 2 not doing any research. Time to degree completion is on target (mean 4.2 for pre-docs and 2 for Masters) and productivity is high (pre-doc and post-doc average of 17.6 and 20.3; medians of 9.5 and 15 total recruitment efforts are robust and successful. Pre-doctoral candidates will enroll in the PhD program. Post- publications including 37 first author publications cited >50 times). All slots were filled and minority doctoral candidates without a previous degree in epidemiology will enroll in a 2-year thesis bearing master's series, and a program-specific research-in-progress meeting, 3) hands-on analysis of an existing data set degree. Trainees will participate in 1) a structured schedule of didactic course work, 2) journal club, seminar and 4) thesis research project. A Program Director, a co-director, 18 core, 5 junior participating, and 14 Affiliate excellence, mult-disciplinary collaboration, innovation and life-long learning. Faculty Members serve as potential support and mentors for the trainees. The program will maintain a focus on